In the aftermath of the queen stage of the Stelvio and its more than six hours of saddle in the high mountains, the Tour of Italy has switched to its tradition of controversy.
In the pouring rain, the majority of the peloton refused to set off for 258 kilometers, the length of the planned plain course to Asti in Piedmont on Friday.
Adam Hansen, Australian Lotto squad on his 29th grand tour, summed up the situation: “We didn't agree to leave.
We negotiated with the organizer to shorten the stage so that the race can still take place.
"
The negotiations, late, led to chaotic scenes since several team buses had already left the starting site.
The director of the Tour of Italy, Mauro Vegni, who agreed to change the course, had to hastily find a fallback solution.
Amputated by around 130 kilometers, the stage finally started from Abbiategrasso, north of Milan, where a new start was given at 2:30 p.m.
The runners' association (CPA), whose delegate for the race is the Italian Cristian Salvato, thanked the race jury and the organizer of the Giro for having acceded to his request: “Health is the priority, especially in this period of Covid.
Reducing the stage will not diminish the spectacle but will allow the runners' immune defenses not to run greater risks.
"
Arnaud Démare "For me, it's anecdotal. It was dire conditions, it's the Giro. I think the peloton woke up too late to show its dissatisfaction"
It's going to rub to follow here> https: / /t.co/XPwG4Ou76e #lequipeGIRO #CaVaFrotter pic.twitter.com/0OHhT4bQBQ
- L'Équipe channel (@lachainelequipe) October 23, 2020
If this 19th stage did not fall within the framework of the so-called “extreme conditions” protocol, despite the cold rain falling on Lombardy, the riders' discontent can be explained above all by the accumulation of fatigue.
Especially after three six-hour days of cycling, the last two on mountain routes, and an excessively short recovery time due to the remoteness of hotels and transfers.
"If we do not accept fatigue, we change jobs"
Seen from France, the comments were sharp.
Marc Madiot, the boss of the Groupama-FDJ team, was definitive on the L'Equipe channel: “When you start a three-week tour, you know you are going to experience fatigue.
If you don't accept it, you change jobs, as I sometimes tell my runners, you don't have to be a cyclist.
"
And Madiot adds: “I recommend the establishment of an independent body which validates the courses.
We knew very well that there would be a lot of transfers, that there would be difficult conditions, we could have anticipated before.
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For the record, the Czech Josef Cerny (CCC) won the stage alone.
Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) kept the leader's pink jersey on the eve of the last mountain stage between Alba and Sestriere, and two days before the finish in Milan.
Kelderman, Hindley (Sunweb) and Geoghegan Hart (Ineos) are in 15 seconds at the top of the general classification.